News tagged with american journal of botany
Rare woodland plant uses 'cryptic coloration' to hide from predators
Nov 25, 2009 |
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It is well known that some animal species use camouflage to hide from predators. Individuals that are able to blend in to their surroundings and avoid being eaten are able to survive longer, reproduce, and ...
The benefits of stress ... in plants
Nov 19, 2009 |
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Chronic stress in humans has been implicated in heart disease, weight gain, and diabetes, among a host of other health problems. Extreme environments, a source of chronic stress, present a challenge even for the hardiest ...
Plants prefer their kin, crowd out competition from strangers
Nov 16, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Plants don't mind sharing space with their kin but when they're potted with strangers of the same species they start invigorating their leaves, a study by McMaster University reveals.
Can a plant be altruistic?
Nov 11, 2009 |
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The concept of altruism has long been debated in philosophical circles, and more recently, evolutionary biologists have joined the debate. From the perspective of natural selection, altruism may have evolved because any ...
New fossil plant discovery links Patagonia to New Guinea in a warmer past
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Nov 10, 2009 |
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Fossil plants are windows to the past, providing us with clues as to what our planet looked like millions of years ago. Not only do fossils tell us which species were present before human-recorded history, ...
In the war between the sexes, the one with the closest fungal relationship wins
Nov 10, 2009 |
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The war between the sexes has been fought on many fronts throughout time -- from humans to birds to insects, the animal kingdom is replete with species involved in their own skirmishes. A recent study by Dr. Sarah Eppley ...
A tree's response to environmental changes: What can we expect over the next 100 years?
Oct 07, 2009 |
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The many environmental issues facing our society are prevalent in the media lately. Global warming, rainforest devastation, and endangered species have taken center stage. Our ecosystem is composed of a very delicate network ...
If only the weeds would keep their genes to themselves
Oct 06, 2009 |
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Family can be a blessing and a curse, and never more so than in the case of crop plants and their wild relatives. These wild and weedy relatives harbor unique and beneficial genes that may no longer be found in their cultivated ...
The amazing maze of maize evolution
Oct 02, 2009 |
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Understanding the evolution and domestication of maize has been a holy grail for many researchers. As one of the most important crops worldwide and as a crop that appears very different from its wild relatives as a result ...
For carnivorous plants, slow but steady wins the race
Sep 14, 2009 |
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Like the man-eating plant in Little Shop of Horrors, carnivorous plants rely on animal prey for sustenance. Fortunately for humans, carnivorous plants found in nature are not dependent on a diet of human blood but rather ...
When you've doubled your genes, what's 1 chromosome more or less?
Sep 14, 2009 |
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An individual with Down syndrome and a male calico cat have one thing in common -- each has an extra chromosome. For animals, most instances of an extra chromosome result in birth defects or even death, but plants are another ...
How to advance scientific literacy
Sep 03, 2009 |
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Society needs science, and scientists need an informed, thoughtful, and open-minded citizenry. Thus, the obvious dependence of American society on science is strikingly inconsistent with the low level of scientific literacy ...
At the fungal farmer's market, only the best cyanobacteria are for sale
Aug 21, 2009 |
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Lichens are the classic example of a symbiotic relationship. Both the fungal and photobiont components of the lichen benefit from the relationship and often are unable to survive without each other. Recent ...
Seeing the tree from the forest: Predicting the future of plant communities
Aug 21, 2009 |
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The ability to envisage the future may be closer than you would think. A recent paper by Sean Hammond and Karl Niklas in the August 2009 issue of the American Journal of Botany presents an algorithm that m ...
Climbing to new heights in the forest canopy: Questions remain after Darwin's own interest (w/ Video)
Aug 06, 2009 |
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With summer in full swing, many plants are at their peak bloom and climbing plants, like clematis, morning glories, and sweet peas, are especially remarkable. Not only are these plants beautiful, but their ability to climb ...
